Journey to an OC Tourney

As of today, it’s only 85 days until college basketball starts…not that anyone is counting, ahem. But in case you are, rejoice! The inaugural Anaheim Classic college basketball tournament is set for November 22, 23, and 25 of this year.

Twelve games of bracketed, idiosyncratic collegiate ball will be hosted by the Anaheim Convention Center, with eight teams from all over the country. University of California, Irvine will be the sole Big West representative; CSU Fullerton is set for next year, and Long Beach State in 2009.

Could this be the beginning of an NCAA tradition? Will the Convention Center become the OC Palestra? Will the spirit of collegiate competition finally have a presence in this otherwise basketball-barren wasteland? Considering the attendance at the Big West championship tournaments for the last few years, I doubt it. But for those of us who have countdown widgets for the NCAA opener, this should be fun. More info here.